*Thanks to Nick Elam of Zillow for this awesome guest post! Hope you enjoy it!*
Frequently referred to as the heart of a home, kitchens play vital roles in daily routines. Everyone’s kitchen differs in size and efficiency with unique layouts and designs. However, one thing is certain for all kitchens – residents use them every day. Frequent use typically leads to messy and disorganized surfaces that detract from the room’s practicality and aesthetics.
Clear counters optimize kitchens for their culinary intent and eliminate reorganizing after prepping every meal. Food preparation and cooking require ample counter space, often limited in standard kitchens. It’s easy to feel cramped when everyday items such as letters, bills, homework, books and small appliances occupy the needed counter space. These items clutter the kitchen counter, becoming obstacles to culinary creativity. It is important to choose items that go with your kitchen’s space and design. For instance, you can choose the right kind of knife from choppychoppy.com as what is required in a home kitchen can differ from what is required in a restaurant’s kitchen.
Review the following five strategies to minimize kitchen clutter.
1. Use Walls and Cabinet Doors for Organizational Items
Kitchen counters often serve as organizational and storage areas for homes and apartments with little space. Phones, notepads, calendars, and pens habitually wind up along the edges of the counter. Give these organizational tools and utensils new homes off of the counter. Hang containers on available vertical surfaces of walls and cabinets. Install rods with S hooks for aesthetic baskets, jars, or buckets to create fashionable and organized receptacles for typical overflow items. Hang an organizer on the back of pantry doors for discrete organization or install floating shelves with attractive pen containers, filing stackers, or neatly stacked recipe books. Streamlined counters eliminate clutter and create the culinary space kitchen counters are intended to provide.
2. Create a Multipurpose Waste Bowl
Adding simple, multipurpose decorative wastebaskets allows for quick and easy cleanup of food scraps and waste. The bowl should be sizeable for a substantial amount of waste, yet convenient enough to easily move throughout the kitchen. One popular and eco-friendly option is a kitchen-sized compost container. Composting bins seal closed to prevent food scrap odors from permeating kitchens. Residents who separate their compost for personal use or trash allocation benefit from kitchen-sized composting bins. Beyond reducing excess food clutter, the waste bowl’s design can also complement kitchen décor.
3. Increase Portability
A rolling island with a butcher block provides both storage and space to prep food when needed. Remove small appliances and dishes on your counter and store them in the base of the mobile kitchen island. Residents can conveniently pull islands throughout kitchens for extra workspace, chopping surfaces, or waste containers as they cook.
Find an aesthetic platter or cake tray to store salt and pepper shakers and other daily essentials on top of the portable island. Items that normally take up counter space can now be easily removed and placed elsewhere at any point in time.
4. Hang Items and Think Tall
Think tall when trying to minimize clutter by maximizing the room’s height and storage capacity. Optimize vertical wall space and hang pot racks from the ceiling. Opt to hang items instead of setting them on the counter. Use top-level shelving to store less frequently used appliances such as food processors, mandolins, and crock pots, leaving daily-use items inaccessible to drawers and cabinets.
Mount kitchen essentials such as paper towels and napkin holders to the walls or backs of cabinet doors to create extra counter space. Rid counters of clunky knife blocks by mounting a magnetic knife strip to the wall. Use all available space to free up drawers and cabinets for countertop items. (view the company that can customize this plan together for you)
5. Distinguish What Belongs In the Kitchen
Work to make clear definitions of which items belong in the kitchen. The kitchen counter is not a magazine rack, filing cabinet, wine cellar, or bookshelf. Reorganize and find alternative locations in your home to store non-kitchen items. Limiting the versatility of the kitchen counter minimizes the possibility of clutter that hinders food preparation.
The kitchen is one of the most heavily trafficked rooms in a home, making it simple to use countertops for convenience versus purpose. When Columbus locals are shopping for new homes or searching for apartments, they should carefully evaluate the size and functionality of kitchen space.
